Category Archives: US News

Australia plans for a ‘less certain’ future in Asia — one where the US may not remain the dominant force

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The US talks of Aukus as ‘binding’ the allies for decades to come, but Richard Marles says Australia must become more ‘self-reliant’

Australia’s defence overhaul has accelerated some projects and cut others and has already prompted a plea from China to abandon a “cold war mentality”.

But as the dust settles on a plan to increase overall military spending, the Albanese government has also sent some significant signals on how it sees the future of the Indo-Pacific region – and these aren’t exactly how Australia’s top security ally, the US, might see things.

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Nasa chief warns China is masking military presence in space with civilian programs

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Bill Nelson told Capitol Hill lawmakers that China has been ‘very, very secretive’ about its space progress, warning ‘we are in a race’

The head of Nasa has warned of China bolstering its space capabilities by using civilian programs to mask military objectives, cautioning that Washington must remain vigilant.

“China has made extraordinary strides especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive,” Nasa administrator Bill Nelson told lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

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Los Angeles police officer who killed girl, 14, in department store will not face charges

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Officer shot and killed both a man who was attacking customers and Valentina Orellana-Peralta, who was hiding in a dressing room

A Los Angeles police officer who fatally shot a 14-year-old girl inside a clothing store in 2021 will not face charges, the California attorney general announced on Wednesday.

Valentina Orellana-Peralta was shopping with her mother at a north Hollywood Burlington Coat Factory on 23 December 2021 when the LAPD entered to apprehend a man suspected of attacking customers in the store. When officer William Dorsey Jones Jr fired three rounds at the man, Valentina was in a nearby dressing room with her mother praying and was killed by Jones’s gunfire.

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Multiple communications failures hurt emergency response to Maui wildfires – report

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Western fire chiefs association details challenges faced by first responders during blazes that killed 101 people

As wildfires ripped across Maui last August, the head of the emergency management agency dragged his heels on returning to the island amid the unfolding crisis, while a broad communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts, according to a report released Wednesday.

Communications problems were also encountered by Hawaiian Electric, with officials unable to confirm that power lines had been de-energized until well after flames had caused widespread damage, the report from the Hawaii attorney general said.

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NPR editor who accused outlet of liberal bias resigns

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Uri Berliner exits days after publication of an essay saying news organization no longer has an ‘open-minded spirit’

An editor at National Public Radio who publicly accused the news organization of having a liberal bias and a growing absence of “viewpoint diversity” has resigned, days after being suspended without pay.

On Wednesday, Uri Berliner posted a screenshot of his resignation letter to NPR’s CEO, Katherine Maher, in which he wrote: “I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years.

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US reimposes sanctions on Venezuela as hope for democracy crumbles

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Relief had been granted after president Nicolás Maduro promised to hold free and fair elections this year

The Biden administration has reimposed crushing oil sanctions on Venezuela, admonishing the president Nicolás Maduro’s attempts to consolidate his rule just six months after the US eased restrictions in a bid to support now fading hopes for a democratic opening in the Opec nation.

A senior US official, discussing the decision with reporters, said any US company investing in Venezuela would have 45 days to wind down operations to avoid adding uncertainty to global energy markets. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss US policy deliberations.

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House Republicans’ bid to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas fails in US Senate

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Senate Democrats dismissed the articles of impeachment as the charges failed to meet bar of ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’

Senate Democrats on Wednesday dismissed the articles of impeachment brought by House Republicans against Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, on grounds that the charges failed to meet the bar of “high crimes and misdemeanors” outlined in the constitution as a basis for removing an official from office.

In a pair of party-line votes, Democrats held that the articles alleging Mayorkas willfully refused to enforce border laws and breached the public trust with his statements to Congress about the high levels of migration at the US southern border with Mexico were unconstitutional. On the first article, the Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, voted “present”.

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Arizona Republicans again block effort to repeal 1864 near-total abortion ban

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After decrying state supreme court ruling on ban with no exceptions for rape or incest, lawmakers ensure its potential to take effect

After days of nationwide debate over the Arizona supreme court’s recent decision to uphold a near-total abortion ban from the 19th century, Arizona’s Republican-controlled statehouse has again quashed an effort to repeal the ban.

Republicans, who hold a one-seat majority in both the Arizona house and senate, on Wednesday shot down a procedural measure in the statehouse that would have enabled the chamber to vote on a bill to repeal the ban. Just one Republican, the representative Matt Gress, voted with the house’s 29 Democrats, but the 30-30 split was not enough to move forward.

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Senators kill first article of impeachment against Alejandro Mayorkas – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. For the latest on Mayorkas impeachment, read our story here.

Chuck Schumer has released a lengthy statement about the commencement (and presumably very swift termination) of the impeachment trial of homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this afternoon.

It is the “least legitimate, least substantive, and most politicized impeachment trial in the history of the United States,” the Democratic Senate majority leader said, encapsulating remarks he made in the chamber just now and posted to Facebook:

The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.

For the sake of the Senate’s integrity, and to protect impeachment for those rare cases we truly need it, Senators should dismiss today’s charges.

It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this nakedly partisan exercise.

Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements. That would set a disastrous precedent for the Congress and could throw our system of checks and balances into endless cycles of chaos.

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Columbia president assailed at highly charged antisemitism Congress hearing

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Minouche Shafik appeared beleaguered as House members grilled her over reported upsurge in antisemitism on campus

The head of a prestigious US university clashed with members of Congress today in highly charged hearings over a reported upsurge in antisemitism on campus in the wake of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Minouche Shafik, the president of Columbia University, appeared beleaguered and uncertain as one Congress member after another assailed her over her institution’s supposed inaction to stop it becoming what one called “a hotbed of antisemitism and hatred”.

This article was amended on 17 April 2024 to correctly identify the school where Elizabeth Magill resigned as president last year. The school was the University of Pennsylvania, not Pennsylvania University.

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California cracks down on farm region’s water pumping: ‘The ground is collapsing’

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Region near Tulare Lake has been put on ‘probation’ as overpumping of water has caused faster sinking of ground

Even after two back-to-back wet years, California’s water wars are far from over. On Tuesday, state water officials took an unprecedented step to intervene in the destructive pumping of depleted groundwater in the state’s sprawling agricultural heartland.

The decision puts a farming region known as the Tulare Lake groundwater subbasin, which includes roughly 837-sq-miles in the rural San Joaquin valley, on “probation” in accordance with a sustainable groundwater use law passed a decade ago. Large water users will face fees and state oversight of their pumping.

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Far-right US Senate candidate tells crowd to carry guns ahead of election

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Kari Lake of Arizona warned supporters of ‘intense’ election year in which Democrats will come after them ‘with everything’

Republican US Senate candidate Kari Lake has told supporters to “strap on a Glock” ahead of the 2024 elections as she struggles to gain ground against her Democratic rival in Arizona.

In a campaign speech made to a crowd in Arizona’s Mohave county on Sunday, Lake echoed Trump-like terms in calling Washington DC a “swamp” – and used a reference to carrying guns when she told people to prepare for an “intense” election year.

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Poland’s president may meet Donald Trump ‘socially’ in New York

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Andrzej Duda’s visit comes as European leaders prepare for Trump’s possible return to White House

Andrzej Duda, Poland’s conservative president, is expected to meet Donald Trump in New York on Wednesday evening, as some European politicians begin preparing for Trump’s possible return to the White House.

Many mainstream European leaders fear the potential impact of a US that is less engaged on the continent, and less committed to the future of Ukraine.

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Alabama chooses candidates for new Black congressional district

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After a contentious redrawing of Alabama’s congressional map, two candidates will compete in November for a seat, and perhaps congressional control

Shomari Figures, an attorney and Obama White House executive from a politically-prominent civil rights family, has won the Democratic nomination to run in Alabama’s redrawn second congressional district Tuesday night, defeating state representative Anthony Daniels.

The runoff election has been closely watched because of its implications for control of Congress in November, and for the effect of supreme court orders requiring southern states to comply with the federal Voting Rights Act and eliminate racial gerrymandering.

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Backlash as USC cancels valedictorian’s speech over support for Palestine

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Asna Tabassum says university is ‘succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice’ after decision to scrap speech

The University of Southern California is facing intense backlash for the decision to cancel the valedictorian speech of a Muslim student at the commencement ceremony in May, a decision which the student has criticized as being silenced by anti-Palestinian hatred for her views on human rights.

In a missive to the USC community, the university’s provost, Andrew Guzman, wrote that the Los Angeles university took the unprecedented step of canceling Asna Tabassum’s planned speech because the “alarming tenor” of reactions to her selection as valedictorian – along with “the intensity of feelings” surrounding Israel’s ongoing military strikes in Gaza – had created “substantial risks relating to security”.

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Trump rebuked as hush-money trial judge warns against juror intimidation

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Juan Merchan admonishes ex-president for ‘gesturing and speaking in the direction of the juror’ as jury selection continues

Donald Trump met a stern rebuke on Tuesday from the jurist presiding over his criminal hush-money trial, with the judge warning: “I won’t have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom.”

Trump’s apparent misbehavior did not derail the trial’s progress; seven jurors were picked by day’s end.

A guide to Trump’s hush-money trial – so far

The key arguments prosecutors will use against Trump

How will Trump’s trial work?

From Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels: the key players

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Mammoth mayhem: elephant escapes circus and roams Montana streets

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Animal recaptured without harm, local outlet reports, and is safe with handlers after escaping Jordan World Circus

An elephant escaped from the circus and ambled through the streets of Butte, Montana, before being recaptured without harm, local news reported.

NBC Montana showed a video of the enormous pachyderm walking across a busy multi-lane street in front of stopped cars and gawping drivers. A later picture showed the elephant standing on a suburban house’s lawn.

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California pilot and his dog survive plane crash after swimming to shore

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The Piper PA-32, a single engine plane, crashed off the coast across from Trump’s LA golf club in Ranchos Palos Verdes

A pilot and his dog survived a plane crash off the California coast, swimming to shore where they were met by authorities responding to the incident.

A 911 call came in on Sunday afternoon at 5.22pm about a plane crashing into the ocean off the coast across from the Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles, in Ranchos Palos Verdes, the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department said on Tuesday.

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Whistleblower urges Boeing to ground all 787 Dreamliners after safety warning

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Engineer Sam Salehpour calls on planemaker ahead of testimony before Senate homeland security committee

A whistleblower has urged Boeing to ground every 787 Dreamliner jet worldwide after warning they are at risk of premature failure ahead of a high-profile hearing on Capitol Hill.

The planemaker has been grappling with its latest crisis since a cabin panel blowout in January raised fresh questions about the production of its bestselling commercial jet, the 737 Max.

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US to impose new sanctions against Iran after its air attack on Israel

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National security adviser Jake Sullivan made the announcement as EU considers similar moves

The US has said it will impose sanctions aimed at Iran’s missile and drone programme as well as the Revolutionary Guard and defence ministry in the next few days, and expects its allies to follow suit, in the wake of Tehran’s large-scale air attack on Israel at the weekend.

The national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, made the announcement on the same day Germany said it expected concerted EU sanctions, as the allies rushed to punish Iran economically while urging Israel not to launch military reprisals that could ignite an all-out war. Sullivan also said that a regional air defence and early warning system would be expanded to help defend against future attacks.

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